Big kick propels Egan Bernal to stage win in Tour of California

Updated 9:14 pm, Monday, May 14, 2018

SANTA BARBARA — Egan Bernal tasted glory at the Tour of California when he rode solo to the top of Gibraltar Road. Sebastian Henao and Tao Geoghegan Hart were just as impressive Monday.

After powerful Team Sky worked to bring back the early breakaway, the pair of worker bees rode to the front of the peloton and set a brutal pace up the final climb of the day. One by one, Henao and then Hart splintered what was left of the main group, dropping top climbers such as Neilson Powless and Peter Stetina before the final couple of kilometers.

With the group whittled to about a dozen riders, Bernal finally moved to the front, unleashing a big kick that drove him clear and left him to ride solo into the overall leader’s jersey.

“The last part was the most important part of the race. In the final two kilometers, I attacked and arrived alone,” the Colombian rider said. “I’m so happy because my team did a great job. When I attacked I did my own pace. I looked at my watts, my pace, and I needed to take control of the climb.”

Rafal Majka of Bora-Hansgrohe was 21 seconds back in second, followed by Adam Yates of Mitchelton-Scott and Antwan Tolhoek of LottoNL-Jumbo. The top American finisher was the BMC Racing Team’s Tejay van Garderen, who wound up 50 seconds back of the winner.

Photo: Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press

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Riders sprint past the crowd during Stage 2 of the Tour of California race in Ventura County.

Riders sprint past the crowd during Stage 2 of the Tour of California race in Ventura County.

Photo: Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press

Big kick propels Egan Bernal to stage win in Tour of California

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With the time bonuses, Bernal rode into the overall lead through two stages with 25 seconds on Majka and 31 seconds on Yates. And with a relatively flat third stage Tuesday, he should be able to maintain it.

The big question is whether he’ll keep it on Wednesday.

The slight Bernal is happy going uphill, but he doesn’t have the big motor of his biggest rivals in the time trial. The fourth stage in San Jose on Wednesday is a relatively long race against the clock, and that means Bernal will be hard-pressed to hang on to the leader’s jersey later in the week.

“I’m not sure because I have not seen the results yet, but the time trial will be long. I’m not sure” of my chances, Bernal said. “I’m happy because I won today. Tomorrow I will try to keep the jersey and then we will see with the time trial. I’m not sure yet.”

Tour of California

Stage 2: A 97.6-mile ride from Ventura to Santa Barbara

Winner, overall leader: Egan Bernal

Tuesday’s Stage 3: A 122.4-mile ride from King City to Laguna Seca Recreation Area (Monterey County)